Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Stop the naming of a street after convicted sex offender - Zohar Argov.

The community of Rishon Letzion (southeast of Tel Aviv) is considering naming a street after Zohar Argov. Naming a street after a convicted sex offender basically legitimizes the sexual assault of women.

Zohar Argov is a convicted sex offender who served one year in prison. He was arrested for a second time on new sexual assault charges in 1987. The case never went to trail due to the committed suicde by hanging himself with a towel. He was also know to have heroin addiction.

Zohar Argov was born Zohar Orkabi on July 16, 1955. He killed himself on November 6, 1987. At the age of 32.

Zohar Argov was born in Rishon Lezion, and grew up in a poor family. He was one of ten children. In those years, singers often began their careers by serving in military entertainment troupes, but Argov did not serve in the army. His remarkable singing abilities were cultivated at home, through his participation from early childhood in the singing and chanting of the religious Yemenite community.

Zohar Argov was made famous for his contribution to the new wave of Israeli Middle-eastern Mizrahi music. The themes of Argov's songs were similar to those of American country music: love, heartache, disappointments, joy, addiction. He was considered a prodigy by many in the music business. After his death Argov has continued to retain his status as "HaMelekh" (the King) of Mizrahi music.

2 Comments:

This reminds me of when they were trying to have a street named after Shlomo Carlebach in New York. The Awareness Center was successful in their call to action to have it stopped. I wish you luck in dealing with this case in Rishon Letzion.